Improvement in steam cheese-vat



@anni @Mire JOB A. DAVIS, or WATERToW'N, -NEW YORK.

Letters Patent No. 95,662, dated Octoberl 1.2, 1869.

A IMPROVEMENT IN' STEAM CHEESE-VAT.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

the drawings which accompany and form part of this specification,` is a description of my invention, sufcient to enable those skilled in the artito practise it.

In the manufacture of cheese on a large'scale, it is` customary to use open vats or pans, capable of holding from, say, one hundred and twenty-five to ve hundred and ifty gallons of milk. lhese are heated be neath until the proper temperature has been reached, and continued for the action of the rennet.

The usual mode of heating is Vto place these p'aus over, or, rather, in a vessel of hot water, or in water heated by steampipes passing through it, and various other'modes of heating this water have been tried.

But in all the existing modes, there has been found a diliculty'in imparting to the milk an even temperature throughout, and, as a ccnsequencawhere the vat is unduly heated at certain points, the coagulated milk clings to the vessel, causing much waste, impairing the quality of theycheese, gradually injuring the pan, and demanding much time and labor to keep the or equivalent medium, located between the steam-receiving chamber and the bottom of the milk-pan, to insure an equal ditfusion of the steam, and' prevent any direct current of steam coming in contact with the bottom of the pan.

My invention also consists in certain details of construction.

In the drawingsn s -Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of my apparatus, with a portion of the tube-covering torn away;

Figure 2 is an end View, showing the steam-pipe and curvedpipe for carrying ol'l' the waterof condensation;

Figure 3, the same, with a modification of the lastnamed pipe;

Figures 4 and 5, cross views of two modes of employing perforated pipes; and l,

Figure 6, a modification, in longitudinal vertical section.

A is the body of my improved apparatus, and B the milk-pan or vessel, which is removable, and adapted to lit snugly, in the customary manner, and with proper packing, above that portion to be supplied by steam.

O is an inlet-tube for the steam, connecting directly with ya finely-perforated metal tube or tubes, D, running the wholeof the heating-chamber; this latter tube being. surinounted with a shield or plate, E, for

its whole length, but which is not as broad as the chamber, and whiehserves positively to interpose between the bottom of the pan and the numerous jets of hot steam issuing from the perforations, and arrest and break and diffuse them before they can reach the an. p Still more efectually and practically to lsecure this end, I wrap this tube (or tubes, if more than one be used,) with one or more coverings or layers, F, of cloth., felt,- knitted goods, or equivalent material, through which the steam must percolate before it can reach the bottom of the milk-pan.

Instead of the perforated tubes and shieldfplat'e, a perforated diaphragm may be used, extending the, wholelength and breadth of the steam-chamber, as seen at G, the same being located above the inlet-pipe, and between it and the bottom of the milk-pan.

This should be covered, as above stated, with some textile orequivalent material, or it may be loosely overlaid with a covering, g, of any description, which will break and check the direct jets, and `allow the steam to be steadily and evenly distributed.

When this textile or other material is made of sut'- ticient thickness, it is evident that it will suciently control and check the steam', without resting .upon a perforated support, any other support being thenvsufl'cent. p

This even distribution prevents the coagulation of the milk at particular spots, and its clingingl to the bottom of 'thepan H is the outlet-pipe for the water of' condensation, and it is formed, it will be seen, as an inverted s'iphon, its outer mouth being slightly higher than its inner one.

By this means, resistance is offered to the pressure of the steam inthe chamber, and this can be increased to any desired extent by simply continuing or multi#k plying the bends or sinuosities of this pipe, as shown at I.

I claiml l 1. The process, herein described, of applying and Controlling steam for heating the milk-pans of cheesevats, the same consisting in passing it through a textile, fibrous, or equivalent material, placed between the steam-chamber and the bottom of the pan.

2. Also, in combination with a cheese-vat, a finelyperforated metal tube or diaphragm beneath the milkpan, and covered with a textile or equivalent material, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. Also, in combination with the steam-chamber oi' a cheese-making apparatus, an open-mouthed bent tube, substantially as and for th'e purposes described.

- JOB A. DAVIS.

Witnesses:

J. F. BEALE, JOHN J HALsrED. 

